Kabila visits region of army defectors

2012-04-10 10:50

Goma - President Joseph Kabila arrived on Monday in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the current home of an ex-warlord wanted by the world court and where hundreds of former rebels have defected from the army.

No official reason was given for Kabila's trip to Goma, the main city in the volatile Nord-Kivu province.

Hundreds of members of the rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which was integrated into the regular army under a 2009 peace deal, have deserted in recent days over what they call inhumane living conditions and other issues.

Also in Goma is a former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, whose nickname is "Terminator" and who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of using child soldiers to fight for him in his former militia group, the Natinal Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP).

Pressure has grown on Kabila to arrest Ntaganda after the ICC convicted his main accomplice Thomas Lubanga of war crimes on March 14 in its first-ever verdict since it was set up 10 years ago.

After the verdict prosecutors said they would meet with Kabila to ask him to arrest Ntaganda.

- SAPA